The Fight for the Soul of the Cities is an international vision for urban organizing—focusing on Los Angeles, and from there, to the major cities of the U.S. in solidarity with the cities and people of the Third World. It is the product of 24 years of organizing by the Labor/Community Strategy Center, 20 years of work by our Bus Riders Union, and seven years of work by our Community Rights Campaig
n. It builds on our vision for L.A. and the urban movement in Reconstructing Los Angeles from the Bottom Up, written in 1992, and Towards a Program of Resistance, written by our Program Demand Group in 2002. Our frontline frame: The Social Welfare State Not the Police State, the Environmental State not the Warfare State frame speaks to the world we want to build. It is also a direct challenge to our government’s war on the environment and working people and its enforcement of its agenda through the police, surveillance, and warfare state. We think the majority of people in the Black and Latino communities for sure, and a powerful force of all people in the United States either reject or want to reject the present agenda of joblessness, low-wage labor, intensified racial discrimination, violation of human rights, and ecological destruction. In 2008, a powerful majority thought they had voted for this agenda in the presidential elections. We are appalled and heartbroken by the conditions of our people but through conscious, organized, international resistance there is great hope. Our Framing Demands: Free the U.S. 2.5 million prisoners, No Cars in LA—and U.S. Cities; 5,000 zero emissions buses in LA, free public transportation, Amnesty and Open Borders for Immigrants, Fight for the Right to Protest and Organize and Stop U.S. Drone Attacks are big picture demands. If won, they can reverse the mass incarceration of Black and Latino communities, establish full immigrant rights as human rights, and create the most advanced ecological policy to slow down the most radical ecological destruction that is already upon us. It can offer solidarity and solace to people around the world that there are people in the United States who oppose the militarist and murderous international policies of our government. Our Key Campaigns create grassroots power on the ground in Black and Latino communities, all communities of color, and all working people. We bring these Frames and Framing Demands to life with Big Picture Campaigns–Ending the Truancy Tickets of Black and Latino Youth, opposing the militarization of the U.S. border, demanding 1 million hours of service and 1,000 buses now from the MTA, closing down Guantanamo, opposing the drones now. If this is you, your politics, your vision, or if our vision can help impact yours, we need your help. Please sign up and work with us.
